Joshua

Joshua Chapter 12

Joshua 12:1 Now these are the kings of the land, which the children of Israel smote, and possessed their land on the other side Jordan toward the rising of the sun, from the river Arnon unto mount Hermon, and all the plain on the east:

Here we have a list of all the kings defeated by the children of Israel by the hand of the Lord. Two of them were on the east side of Jordan and 31 from the west side.

Joshua 12:2 Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and ruled from Aroer, which is upon the bank of the river Arnon, and from the middle of the river, and from half Gilead, even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon;
3 And from the plain to the sea of Chinneroth on the east, and unto the sea of the plain, even the salt sea on the east, the way to Bethjeshimoth; and from the south, under Ashdothpisgah:

This king was a giant who ruled from the border of Moab to the border of Ammon. Again I repeat, this overthrow of kingdoms was judgment from God for their wickedness that was full and beyond repentance. In the days of Abraham, God promised Abraham all this land but God would not allow Abraham to take the land promised to him at that time because the iniquity of these nations were not yet full or at a point when they went beyond any hope of repenting and changing their ways.

We see this in Genesis 15 where God tells Abraham that his descendants would go down into Egypt for 400 years but would come out to take the land promised to them later. At that time the iniquity of the Amorites were not yet full. Their judgment was yet future and we see the fulfillment of that prophecy told to us in the book of Joshua.

Joshua 12:4 And the coast of Og king of Bashan, which was of the remnant of the giants, that dwelt at Ashtaroth and at Edrei,

Og was another giant who ruled but he was defeated under the leadership of Moses. Their land was given to the tribe of Reuben, Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh. Og and Sihon were the two kings on the east side of Jordan.

Joshua 12:5 And reigned in mount Hermon, and in Salcah, and in all Bashan, unto the border of the Geshurites and the Maachathites, and half Gilead, the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.
6 Them did Moses the servant of the LORD and the children of Israel smite: and Moses the servant of the LORD gave it for a possession unto the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh.
7 And these are the kings of the country which Joshua and the children of Israel smote on this side Jordan on the west, from Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon even unto the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir; which Joshua gave unto the tribes of Israel for a possession according to their divisions;
8 In the mountains, and in the valleys, and in the plains, and in the springs, and in the wilderness, and in the south country; the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites:

The land on the west side boundaries were from Lebanon to the north, the Mediterranean from the west and the river Jordan at the east. Mount Halak to the south.

Joshua 12:9 The king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one;

This was the first king defeated by Joshua where Rahab and her family helped the 2 spies and as a result of her faith in God of Israel. She believed God was with Israel, As a result of her faith, her family was saved from death before that city's destruction.

Joshua 12:10 The king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one

This was Adonizedek who attacked the Gibeonites for making a truce with Joshua The king of Hebron was Hoham who helped the king of Jerusalem. This described in Joshua chapter 10.

Joshua 12:11 The king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one;

The king of Jarmuth was Piram and the king of Lachish was Japhia found in Joshua 10:3.

Joshua 12:12 The king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one;

Debir was king of Eglon who also was in league with the kings who came up against Gibeon. These five kings were the ones defeated and hid in a cave. This story is in Joshua chapter 10 where Joshua asked God to make the sun stand still until he finished the battle. The five kings were executed.

Joshua 12:13 The king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one;

The king of Gezer was Horam who came up to help Lachish. Also in Joshua chapter 10.

Joshua 12:14 The king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one;
15 The king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one;

Chapter 10 of Joshua describes the defeat of Libnah.

Joshua 12:16 The king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one;
28 tells of the defeat of Makkedah and that king suffered the same fate of as the king of Jericho.
17 The king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one;
18 The king of Aphek, one; the king of Lasharon, one;
19 The king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one;
20 The king of Shimronmeron, one; the king of Achshaph, one;
21 The king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one;
22 The king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam of Carmel, one;
23 The king of Dor in the coast of Dor, one; the king of the nations of Gilgal, one;
24 The king of Tirzah, one: all the kings thirty and one.

Joshua chapter 11 describes the battle they fought when kings gathered together to fight against Joshua and stop their conquests. More giants called the Anakims were defeated as told in chapter 11. Until they finally rested from war.

Map of Israel after the 12 tribes conquered all the land as God told them to do.

Wow. They could not have done this without the hand of the Lord with them. I marvel that so many today do not fear God but would rather rebel against Him or deny His existence; not realizing that at His word we are history. His power can establish a kingdom or order it to fall. We can go on in denial and ignore the tugging on our hearts to repent or be saved by receiving the forgiveness of sins through our faith in Jesus whom God sent to save us from sin. We can be as Rabab and her family that feared God and took steps to save themselves from the wrath of God that was coming.

No nation is so mighty that they can escape God's judgment upon evil. The only escape is to receive the salvation He provides by believing on Jesus and turning away from sin. If we would rather die in our sins, we will be lost. Jesus told the Jews that lived in the days when He walked among them:

I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. John 8:24.

When Jesus said that I am He, He meant that He was the one. He was the one God sent, that came into human flesh to save them from their sins. He was the way to eternal life, the truth, the word and the only way to salvation. To miss the message of the gospel is to miss eternal life. DC

Joshua Index